Heather Wasserman

Christine Adreani

James M. Wilson

James M. Wilson, MD, PhD is a Professor in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania where he has been at the nexus of the field of gene therapy from its birth. Dr. Wilson began his work in gene therapy during his graduate studies at the University of Michigan over 30 years ago. He created the first and largest academic-based program in gene therapy after being recruited to Penn in 1993, initially focusing on the clinical translation of existing gene transfer technologies but soon redirecting his efforts to the development of second and third generation gene transfer platforms, the first of which was licensed to a biotechnology company he founded that resulted in the first, and only, commercially approved gene therapy in the western hemisphere.

More recently, his laboratory discovered a family of viruses from primates that could be engineered to be very effective gene transfer vehicles. Dr. Wilson has also been active in facilitating the commercial development of these new gene therapy platforms through the establishment of several biotechnology companies. He is currently leading a national dialogue on the challenges of commercializing these potentially lifesaving treatments due to the disruptive nature they will have on traditional business models. Throughout his career, the focus of Dr. Wilson's research has been rare inherited diseases, ranging from cystic fibrosis to dyslipidemias to a variety of metabolic disorders. He is the founder of a 501(c)3 called Health Through Fitness in Orphan Diseases and Director of a bicycle team called Rare Disease Cycling whose participants compete at a national level and help raise money for rare disease research.

Dr. Wilson has published over 550 papers, reviews, commentaries and editorials in peer-reviewed literature and is an inventor on over 117 patents. He was the second President of the American Society of Gene Therapy, the 2014 recipient of the William Osler Patient Oriented Research Award of the University of Pennsylvania and 2015 recipient of the Scientific Achievement Award

Stephen Martin

As Head of Global Pharmaceutical R&D at Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health Stephen Martin has:

- Lead functions responsible for discovering, developing, and gaining world-wide marketing authorizations for animal health medicines and health products.
- Lead the global R&D functions that support manufacturing of pharmaceutical drugs. Includes functions responsible for analytical methods, formulation, technical transfer and investigations for development and commercial products.
- Implemented and lead a team and process for collaborating with human pharma and biopharma to identify, transfer and develop human medicines for veterinary use.
- Increased pipeline value by over 50%, and number of projects and project
progression by 300%, with a neutral headcount target.
- Site leader for a GXP R&D facility (90,000 square feet)
- Member of the R&D Leadership Team and the BI Extended Leadership Team with responsibility for the execution of R&D and business strategy.

Dorothy Brown

Dottie is the lead executional scientist for TCMR at Eli Lilly/Elanco. TCMR facilitates companion animal studies designed to de-risk assets in the Lilly pipeline, as well as assets of potential Lilly partners. At the University of Pennsylvania, Dottie led a sponsored translational research program focusing on the development of outcome assessment instruments for chronic pain in companion animals and applying those instruments to translational studies evaluating the efficacy of novel interventions, such as targeted neurotoxins, in dogs with naturally occurring bone cancer or osteoarthritis. At Eli Lilly/Elanco, she now directs companion animal studies across institutions in order to leverage high quality, systematic translational data with the goal of improving both human and animal health.

Linda Rhodes

Dr. Rhodes has over 30 years of accomplishments in human and animal drug discovery, development, biomedical research, and clinical veterinary medicine.

Dr. Rhodes was educated at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine (VMD) and Cornell University (PhD). She has an extensive background in physiology, veterinary medicine, and drug development, and many publications in peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Rhodes practiced clinical veterinary medicine for five years, with experience in both companion and farm animal practice. As a senior research fellow at Merck Research Laboratories for 8 years, she led pre-clinical biology evaluation of several marketed human drugs. She worked for Merial Ltd. as director of large animal development projects, leading project teams developing novel compounds for a variety of indications. In April 2001, she formed AlcheraBio, a consulting, marketing, and contract research firm specializing in developing new drugs for animals, working with biotechnology and animal health companies world-wide. AlcheraBio was acquired in 2008 by Argenta, and Dr. Rhodes served as executive vice president to transition the company when in 2011, she accepted a position as CEO of Aratana Therapeutics, a startup company developing innovative new medicines for dogs and cats. Subsequently, when the company became public she served as its Chief Scientific Officer. During her 5-year tenure, the company achieved FDA approval of three new pet therapeutics: Galliprant, Nocita and Entyce. She is currently retired and an independent consultant. She is a member of the Board of Directors of Zoetis, and serves on the Scientific Advisory Boards of the Alliance for Contraception in Dogs and Cats and the Michelson Found Animals Foundation. She founded Feather in Her Cap, a non-profit that recognizes the achievement of women in the animal health industry. She is the recipient of the Iron Paw Award.

Brian Kopp

Brian Kopp is a Partner at Stonehaven Consulting AG.  He has 20 years of experience in Healthcare with Eli Lilly and Company, and 7 years of experience in Automotive with General Motors.  Since 2007, Brian has served as CFO and V.P. of Operations and Strategy with Elanco Animal Health, a division of Eli Lilly and Company.  Over this period, Elanco has grown Revenues from $700 million to over $3 billion, emerged as a top tier player in the industry, achieved top tier Operating margins, experienced significant expansion of business lines, global capabilities, and overall value.  This significant growth was achieved by executing on an aggressive transformation agenda that included capitalizing on a mix of organic and inorganic opportunities.  After 27 years working in increasingly relevant roles within Corporate settings, Brian is excited by the opportunity to take his experiences and insights and help Animal Health partners develop and/or realize their strategic goals.